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22 • Visit us @ www.ChampNews.com WK The Champion • Wednesday 17 April 2013Got an interesting story to tell?Champ Newsdesk01704 392400Hospital trust board meetingSOUTHPORT and Ormskirk Hospital NHSTrust will hold its next board meeting onWednesday, April 24 at 9am.The meeting will be held in the board roomin the Corporate Management Office atSouthport and Formby District GeneralHospital. Members of the public arewelcome to attend and observe the meeting.Anyone with a special requirement shouldcontact the Trust in advance on 01704704714. The agenda will be available on theTrust website in advance of the meeting.SALENOW ONMUCH MORE AVAILABLE IN STORE OR ONLINESHOP ONLINE 24 HOURS A DAY www.bedfactorydirect.co.uk129 London Road, L3 8JA(Closed on Sunday)Telephone 0151 207 7002Topaz orthopaedicmicro quilted divanwith 2 free drawersFROM£179DoubleStorage BedsFROM£169Double PocketSprung BedsFROM£299Huge Selectionof Bed FramesFROM£79BEDFACTORYCLEARANCESTOREat Rimrose Road,BootleWe have 100s of beds and mattresses to clear at trade prices...FIRST COME FIRST SERVED These offers are not available on our websiteSingle slider divan setwith quilted mattressONLY£79Single MattressesFROM £25Double MattressesFROM £55Double Extra DeepMattressesRoommate deep quiltedmedium-firm divan withslider storageFROM£149ONLY £89Also MASSIVE REDUCTIONS on ex-display models includingpocket sprung, memory foam and a huge selection of framesincluding leather, metal and wood79-81 Rimrose Road, Bootle L20 4HN OPEN 10am-5.30pmMonday-Saturday • CLOSED SUNDAYTelephone 0151 922 3900MEGASTORE: Long Lane, Aintree L9 9AG(near Grange and Woodhouse) Tel 0151 521 2223OPEN 7 DAYSOpen 9.30-5.30pm Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm Saturday and 11am-4pm Sunday1117324Hybrid busesoffer a fineride but don’thave soulI TOOK half a day off this week – well kind of.I went one of those trips which my fellowcolumnist David Simister would have calledworking while enjoying every minute of it.I was sampling the latest in hybrid technologyin buses. For some time I have been tempted tohave a ride on one of the hybrid midi–buses tobe seen these days on the circular routesaround my home town of Maghull.I never have – partly because I have anin–built aversion to riding anywhere inMaghull instead of walking. It might be takenas a sign I was getting old – it might even be thecause of it if I took it up. But partly because Ihave never really accepted these ‘little buses’as being quite pukka – if you see what I mean.Arriva have introduced a fleet of hybriddouble–deckers onto its cross–river routes inLiverpool. So I ventured forth – and took thebus into town rather than the train.I was lucky with that – the bus I got toLiverpool was one of Arriva’s latest full–sizediesel single deckers. Anyway, so it was that Istood at the stop in St Thomas Street andwithin a couple of minutes a shiny new hybrid‘decker going to West Kirby turned up.The first thing you noticed was the total lackof engine noise as you boarded, and the almosteerie ‘sound’ – if that’s the word – of just avery subdued electric whine as it pulled away.Mind you, the small(ish) engine cut in almostimmediately, but with no shudders, and apartfrom an almost imperceptible drop in speedjust at that moment no fuss either.The problem for me thought was that whilethe engine was running it sounded much likeany old diesel bus to me, with the engine doingquite a bit of the work, though admittedly moreeconomically.It was bus stops that rather spoiled the wholething for me though. Without knowingprecisely how a large (12 tonne) hybrid works Ican only presume that depending on the stateof the battery at any given time, the engineeither keeps on ticking over at a stop, or shutsdown altogether.When it did there was a considerable ‘clunk’,rather like someone throwing a very largecircuit breaker – which I suppose it was, really.The bus itself though was quite impressive,with good lighting and heating and ‘real’leather seats. Very swish. Only trouble withthose sets was though that leather though theycertainly were, they also had very thin squabsso that after a 50 minute or so journey I wasactually quite pleased to stand up again andrelieve my backside.I got the electric train back to Liverpool – andon to Maghull. And though Merseyrail trainshave a sound repertoire of their own, at leastthey are quite obviously linked to compressorsetc cutting in and out or the train controller‘notching up’.One thing I never quite got used to on my busride into the future were the odd clicks andwhirrings that punctuated the ride.I was mightily impressed with the big hybrid. Icouldn’t fault its performance (though it hadlittle chance to show any real pace on the openroad).But I’m afraid that, as a bus enthusiast for aslong as I can remember, this vehicle somehowlacked ‘soul’.And I still wonder about any hybrid’s ‘green’credentials given the manufacture of thebatteries – and their eventual disposal.